Religion in Greece

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The Greek Orthodox Church is the religion of 95%-98% of the Greek population and is accorded the status of "prevailing religion" in the constitution.

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,

81% of Greek citizens responded that "they believe there is a God".
16% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force".
3% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".

Greek Orthodoxy

The Greek Orthodox Church is similar to the Roman Catholicism. The Orthodox church has priest, alter boys, and an Archbishop (which is the same status as the Pope in Catholicism). The Greek Orthodox regilion believes in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They do believe Jesus has come to save the world and that he will come again. When church first started, the denomination was Orthodox, then the church split into two (2) churches: Orthodox and Catholics. From there more splitting happened. By church law, if there is not an Orthodox church around, they are allowed to be accepted into the Catholic church. The catholic church recognizes this practice and accepts it as well.

The government, by virtue of the status of the Orthodox Church as the prevailing religion, recognizes de facto its canon law. Privileges and legal prerogatives granted to the Orthodox Church are not extended routinely to other recognized religions. The US Department of State claims Orthodox Church officials refuse to enter into dialogue with religious groups that they considered harmful to Orthodox worshippers, and they instructed their members to shun followers of these faiths.

Greek Old Calendarists are estimated at 700,000 - 1 million.

Catholicism

Roman Catholicism

Indigenous Catholic Greeks number approximately 50,000 and are found all over Greece, the majority however live in the Cyclades. The Roman Catholic community has increased in size in recent years due to immigration and today number over 200,000.

Greek Catholicism

Catholic Greeks of the Byzantine Rite (Uniates) number approximately 5,000 and mostly live in Athens.

Islam

Indigenous Muslims in Greece are mostly of Turkish origin and number 97,604 people or 0.95% of the total population, according to the 1991 census. Immigrant Muslims are estimated between 200,000 and 300,000.

Judaism

The Jewish community in Greece currently amounts to roughly 5,500 people, concentrated mainly in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Volos, Chalkis, Ioannina, Trikala and Corfu, while very few remain in Kavala and Rhodes.

Dodekatheism

About 2,000 people are members of Hellenic Neopaganism (Dodekatheic) congregations. However, the leaders of the movement put the number much higher: from 100,000 or 200,000 (1%, 2% of the total) to 400,000 (4%) Recently, Neopagans have been subject of discrimination issues.

Other faiths

Other faiths in Greece include Jehovah's Witnesses, various Protestant and Pentecostal sects, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Scientologists, Bahá'ís, Hare Krishnas.

References

Notes

US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2006: Greece
Tomkinson, John L., Between Heaven and Earth: The Greek Church, Anagnosis (Athens, 2004) ISBN 960-87186-5-1

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 13:07:32 PDT (GMT -0700)
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